With Branding Policy Update, Montana Gives Livestock Producers More Design Options

Apr 25, 2022

There are about 48,000 livestock brands actively registered in Montana.

That makes it hard to come up with new designs, says Ethan Wilfore with the state Department of Livestock.

“A lot of folks were having trouble getting brands that they wanted, specifically two-character brands,” he said.

Some people had to settle for three-character brands. That’s because under the state’s prior policy new brand applications were limited to letters, numbers, and a handful of shapes.

But under the Montana Department of Livestock’s updated brand policy that went into effect earlier this month, more design possibilities are opening up for the way livestock are identified.

The new policy says if there’s an image that’s among the already registered brands, you can incorporate it into your new brand application.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.